Not to be outdone by the Tiger Woods fiasco of late 2009, this year had already produced its first sports-related scandal, just hours into its first day. As sports fans around the country groggily roused ourselves on January 1 and stared with bloodshot, hangover-glazed eyes into our Google Reader feeds, we were greeted by the seemingly sensationalized news of an alleged gun duel between all-star point guard Gilbert Arenas and injured reserve guard Javaris Crittenton in the Wizards’ locker room on December 21. It seemed too farfetched to be true.
Unfortunately, as pieces of the story slowly filtered out via Twitter and blog posts from Mike Jones (a former Wizards beat writer for the now-defunct Washington Times sports section), the story as initially reported was largely true. Here’s what we know: after Arenas refused to pay Crittenton a gambling debt of $1,100 (amassed while playing boo-ray–a Cajun card game whose intricate rules are universally disputed–on the team plane on December 19), Crittenton became irate and threatened to shoot Arenas in his surgically-repaired right knee, while Arenas responded that he would set Crittenton’s car on fire.
Here’s where it gets interesting. In the Verizon Center’s locker room on December 21, Arenas set four of his own unloaded guns (one of them a gold-plated, .50 caliber, semiautomatic Desert Eagle pistol) out on a chair next to Crittenton’s locker with a note saying, “pick one.” Upon entering the locker room, Crittenton became furious, throwing one of Arenas’s guns across the room, and drew his own pistol, chambering a round. As he began singing, somewhat creepily, everyone else, including Arenas, nervously backed out of the room.
Although Arenas issued an apology through his lawyers, he was less than contrite about the incident on Twitter, writing, “i wake up this morning and seen i was the new JOHN WAYNE..lmao media is too funny.”
The final straw came on January 5 when, during pregame introductions for a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Arenas made guns with his fingers and pretended to shoot his teammates, again showing he was less than sorry about the controversy. The next day, NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay, and the Wizards almost immediately removed all signs of Arenas from the Verizon Center, taking down the enormous banner of his likeness that hung on 6th Street, removing his jersey from the team shop, and even editing him out of the intro video. While the guns were registered in Virginia, Arenas didn’t have a license to carry them in D.C., and on January 15 he accepted a plea bargain that convicted him of felony gun possession. He won’t be sentenced until March, but he is expected to receive six months in jail.
Just like that, the former all-star combo guard went from franchise player and fan favorite to convicted felon and public enemy number one. Throughout the entire process, Arenas seemed flippant and irreverent, never seeming to truly grasp the severity of the situation. His actions look especially poor in light of the November death of Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who in 1997 changed the franchise’s nickname from the Bullets to the Wizards to disassociate the team from the gun violence that plagues the District.
Whatever happens to Arenas, he should remember that all is not lost. In the NBA, plenty of players have resurrected themselves after committing career suicide. Ron Artest, with all of his prior troubles, is now a model citizen for the defending-champion Lakers. Latrell Sprewell, who choked his own coach in practice, was eventually welcomed onto the Knicks. What Arenas must know now is that he has forever changed his image. He can no longer be the fun-loving goofball NBA star. He needs to quit acting like this is some big joke, recognize the severity of his actions, and begin rebuilding his image. His mocking on-court gun show was a poor start. Only after he stops trying to live in the headlines will fans and the league allow him to start walking the long road to forgiveness.
Challenge Sean to a duel at squigley@georgetownvoice.com
